


Anything to make you smile

by emmerrr



Series: Ronan and Adam navigate life [4]
Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: Adam's Birthday, And I'm not even sorry, Fluff, M/M, POV Ronan Lynch, so much tooth-rotting fluff that you might be sick
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-26
Updated: 2017-04-26
Packaged: 2018-10-24 02:21:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10732161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emmerrr/pseuds/emmerrr
Summary: A birthday, a heart-to-heart, a reunion.Ronan Lynch is recklessly happy.





	Anything to make you smile

**Author's Note:**

> did everyone see the snippet from the new short story that maggie posted? ronan making adam laugh is currently all that I care about.
> 
> this is so soft and it was so ridiculously nice to write, I hope people like it, ahhhh, it's so fluffy because I am in no mood for angst.

Ronan finished shaving his hair, watching the last of the dark curls fall away. He was a little sorry to see them go, but summer was now in full swing, and for someone who spent as much time outside as Ronan did, the thick curls were just too hot and impractical, so a buzz-cut it was.

He hopped in the shower to rinse off any stray hairs then made his way to his bedroom to get changed. The sun was already high in the sky, and with his windows cracked open, Ronan could hear Opal making an unholy racket from somewhere outside. He didn’t mind the noise; a quiet Opal was more worrisome as it usually meant she had some sort of foliage in her mouth. Sure, it didn’t do her any damage, but it was still _weird_.

Ronan had been up and gotten all his farm related chores out of the way nice and early, so he pulled on a typical Ronan get-up of black jeans and a black sleeveless t-shirt, then he practically skipped down the stairs. He heard the noise of the television coming from the living room — Matthew, watching very old re-runs of Jackass — but he detoured to the kitchen, where he found Declan pouring himself what was no doubt his third, fourth or fifth cup of coffee of the day.

“Morning, bro,” Ronan said cheerfully. He really was in an extraordinarily good mood.

“Mornin’,” Declan grunted back. He had enormous dark circles under his eyes and clutched his coffee mug like it was a lifeline.

“Sleep okay?”

“I _did_ , until Opal barged in at the crack of dawn and demanded I accompany her down to the stream to skip stones.”

Ronan laughed. “You could have said no,” he said. “She would have gone on her own quite happily. Or she would’ve enlisted someone else.”

Declan arched a brow at Ronan. “You _know_ I can’t say no to Opal, she looks up at me with those huge eyes and I can’t handle it.”

Ronan shrugged. “I say no to her all the time. She never fuckin’ _listens_ , but I still _say_ it.”

“Then you’re a stronger man than I.”

“Obviously,” Ronan said with a smirk, then laughed sharply at the scowl his brother sent him.

Declan and Matthew had arrived the night before, and by mid-afternoon Ronan would have a full house when Gansey, Blue and Henry arrived. Tomorrow was the 4th of July, a date that Ronan didn’t much like remembering — it had connotations of fire and fear and Matthew looking up at Ronan with wide, frightened eyes as Kavinsky stood on his Mitsubishi and let his dream dragon destroy him — but _today_ was the 3rd.

More specifically, today was Adam’s 21st birthday, and this was the reason for the small gathering of people at the Barns. This was the reason for Ronan’s good mood.

“Where’s Adam?” he asked.

“He _was_ watching TV with Matthew, but I think he went outside when I got back with Opal. She was going on about wanting to show him something.”

Ronan gave Declan a thumbs up, took his car keys off the hook and stuffed them in his pocket, then headed to the living room.

Matthew was sprawling on his front across the full length of the sofa wearing a Superman hoodie and Teenage Mutant Ninja Heroes pyjama bottoms. He lifted his head when he heard Ronan make his entrance. “Hiya, pal,” Matthew said.

Ronan leaned over the back of the sofa and ruffled Matthew’s golden curls. “Hey. Did you say happy birthday to Adam?”

“Yup.”

“Did you get him a present?”

Matthew rolled onto his back and looked up at Ronan, considering. “I brought myself,” he said at length.

“The gift that keeps on giving,” Ronan said wryly.

Matthew smiled easily. “Exactly.” Ronan rolled his eyes fondly and started to leave the room, and Matthew’s voice followed him out. “Nah, but seriously, I’m gonna make him a cake later. Opal said she’d help.”

Ronan stopped short and whirled around. Matthew was now sitting up and peering at Ronan over the back of the sofa. “Do _not_ let Opal help, she’ll put dirt in it for fuck’s sake.”

Matthew crinkled his nose. “Bit of dirt never hurt anybody.”

Ronan pointed at his brother in warning, then finally headed outside in search of the birthday boy himself.

He’d seen Adam already this morning, of course; he'd woken up next to him, his face in the crook of Adam’s neck, leg hooked over Adam’s. He’d been unable to move immediately, the usual side effect of bringing back something from his dreams, but it didn’t last long this time. It was just a small thing, after all. Ronan had kissed Adam’s forehead, receiving an incoherent grumble in response (it had been _very_ early), and then gotten out of bed, placing his dream gift on the bedside table on Adam’s side before heading out for a hard mornings graft.

But that had been hours ago, and Ronan was now getting antsy with anticipation. The whole day stretched out before them; it felt like anything could happen. He stepped into the glorious sunshine and almost immediately, Chainsaw was upon him, landing heavily on his shoulder and giving his ear a nip.

“Turd,” Ronan said affectionately. “Where are they?”

Chainsaw squawked and took off again, flying in a straight line for a while before circling. Ronan assumed Adam and Opal would be found in the middle of that circle.

Sure enough, next to the fence post of one of the fields which Chainsaw now gracefully landed upon, Ronan spotted them. Adam was crouched down next to Opal, who had one hand in Adam’s and the other pointed to something Ronan couldn’t yet see. They both jerked their heads up when they heard Ronan’s approach, and Opal held a finger to her lips. The irony of being shushed by someone who made as much noise as Opal did was not lost on Ronan, and he started an exaggerated tip-toe over just to make Adam smirk, which he did. Opal scowled.

He reached the fence post and leaned his arms on the top, peering down at whatever held Adam and Opal’s interest.

“What have you got there?” he asked quietly.

“Mice,” Opal said. “I found some field mice this morning.”

“No shit,” Ronan replied, then leaned forward a little more to get a better view. Almost completely hidden in the long grass, near a hole that had been chewed in the fence post, sat a tiny little meadow vole. “It’s a young one,” Ronan said.

“I think it’s waiting for someone.”

“Yup,” Ronan said. “It’s mom will probably be back soon. We should get out of the way or we might scare her off.”

Opal looked put out, but Adam pulled her to her feet. “We’ll come and see it again tomorrow, if you want,” he said, and Opal beamed.

Tiny woodland creatures forgotten about, Opal now took off at speed back towards the house, screeching as she went. Chainsaw tore after her.

Alone at last, Ronan finally got a good look at Adam.

“Parrish,” he said.

“Lynch.”

Adam was wearing a white t-shirt over grey jeans that were rolled over at the ankle. Attached to his t-shirt was a birthday badge, freshly dreamt up and left for Adam to find. It was intricately decorated with vines and leaves and flowers that twisted together to form the number 21, and tiny glowing lights shimmered in the background. It was beautiful.

“I see you found your badge.”

Adam looked down at it. “I did,” he said with a smile. “Thank you, Ronan.”

“Have you pressed it yet?”

Adam tilted his head to the side. “Pressed it?”

“Yeah. It’s more than just a pretty badge, you know.”

Intrigued, Adam lifted a finger and pressed the middle of the badge. The murder squash song began to play in a high-pitched Alvin and the Chipmunks style, and Adam, taken by surprise, doubled over in uncontrollable laughter.

“Ronan — you — you _asshole_ ,” he managed to gasp out between giggles. “How do I make it stop?”

Ronan cackled delightedly. The murder squash song had to be used sparingly to still get a laugh, and it had been a long, _long_ time since Ronan had unleashed it on Adam unawares. His breathless laughter was so unbelievably worth it; Ronan could listen to it forever.

They began to walk a slow line back to the house, the murder squash song eventually fading out, and every time Adam got his giggles under control, a couple of seconds later they would start up again. Ronan was immeasurably pleased. By the time they reached the side of the house, Adam was no longer laughing, but the expression on his face was all mirth. Ronan checked his watch; not yet midday, still another couple of hours or so until the others got here. He took his car keys out of his pocket and spun them around his finger.

“Fancy a drive, Parrish?”

Adam grinned and snatched the keys, lightning quick. “I’ll drive.”

* * *

 

Adam Parrish driving Ronan’s BMW brought back vivid memories of turns around the Monmouth parking lot, when Ronan had taught Adam to drive stick, surreptitiously watching Adam’s elegant hands, and then overcompensating by swearing excessively whenever Adam stalled.

Adam didn’t stall anymore, but Ronan still watched his hands.

“My eyes are up here, Lynch,” Adam said.

Ronan glanced up and met Adam’s blue-eyed gaze. “So they are,” he said, unrepentant.

Going for a drive served a dual purpose. One, it gave Matthew, Opal and Declan a chance to decorate the kitchen, living room and outer deck for Adam’s birthday party. And two, it gave Ronan a chance to have Adam all to himself for a little while.

Not that he wasn’t ridiculously excited to see Gansey, Blue and Henry; the last time they were all together had been Christmas time and a reunion was long overdue. But Ronan was always happy to seize any opportunity he had to monopolise Adam’s time — they spent enough time apart as it was.

When they had got into the car, Adam had asked where they were going.

“Wherever the fuck you want,” Ronan had replied, and now that he’d stopped staring at Adam and instead looked out of the window, he realised where Adam was taking them.

“Oh,” Ronan said, and frowned. Adam parked the car and twisted side-long in his seat so he was facing Ronan. “Adam, why are we here? Are you feeling sad?”

Adam shook his head, and leaned forward to kiss Ronan. “No,” he said when he pulled back. “I’m feeling peaceful.” He got out of the car.

Ronan followed him out and looked around. Adam had brought them to where Cabeswater had once been. It was still beautiful, but no longer magical, and Adam touched the trunk of a tree with a wistful smile on his face. Ronan trudged after him.

Cabeswater was somewhat of a contentious subject between Ronan and Adam, so they only ever spoke about it if Adam brought it up; Ronan never mentioned it at all.

He knew that Adam had felt a huge sense of loss when they had asked Cabeswater to sacrifice itself for Gansey, but he also knew that it was something Adam would do again in a heartbeat. Of course he would; they _all_ would.

Ronan, too, felt Cabeswater’s absence keenly. But he also knew that Cabeswater would be back someday because he was going to _make_ it come back someday. He spent plenty of time here with Chainsaw and Opal while Adam was away at college, but he just didn’t bring it up with Adam. The new Cabeswater that Ronan had in mind wouldn’t involve Adam sacrificing any part of himself for. Not his hands, not his eyes, not anything.

It wasn't that he thought Adam would necessarily want to do any of these things again; it was just that Adam was the Magician, and Ronan was worried that he wouldn’t feel like he was the Magician of the new Cabeswater. And Ronan didn’t want Adam to be sad, so he just never talked about it.

Adam walked through a thicket of trees and found a patchy circle of grass which he sat down in the middle of. Ronan sat next to him, stretching his legs out in front of him. Adam watched him for a moment, then laid his head in Ronan’s lap and shut his eyes. Ronan lightly stroked the back of Adam’s ear with his finger, and Adam sighed.

“I know you’ve been coming here, you know,” he said without opening his eyes.

Ronan froze momentarily, then put his hand in Adam’s hair. “Huh?” he asked lamely.

“I know that you’ve been coming here and then dreaming up new ideas for a new Cabeswater. Opal told me.”

“That little traitor,” Ronan grumbled.

Adam snorted, then rolled so the back of his head was on Ronan’s lap and he could see him. He caught Ronan’s hand and linked their fingers together. “Seriously, Ronan. Why didn’t you tell me?”

Ronan sighed and started aggressively tearing up grass with his free hand. “Because, it’s _Cabeswater,_ Adam. I didn’t want to upset you.”

“Why do you think I’d get upset?”

“Because it probably won’t be the same for you anymore. And I know what it meant to you.”

“Ronan,” Adam said softly. “Look at me.”

Ronan flicked his eyes over to Adam’s, open and unwavering and staring at Ronan like he could see straight through him. And maybe he could.

“I always knew that you’d find a way to bring Cabeswater back someday. And you’re right, it probably won’t be the same. I was the Magician of the old Cabeswater but I wouldn’t be tied to the new one in the same way. But that doesn’t mean you can’t talk to me about it. I want to help in any way I can, even if that means I’m just a sounding board for you to bounce ideas off. Okay?”

Ronan leaned down until his forehead was touching Adam’s. “Okay. I’m sorry,” he said.

“What was that?”

“I said I’m sorry, you asshole.”

“You’re not allowed to call me an asshole today, it’s my birthday.”

Ronan sat back up with a laugh. “That it is, Parrish. That it is.”

They sat like that for a while, Ronan filling Adam in on everything he had found so far, every idea he’d had to make Cabeswater safer and stronger, and Adam offered his input here and there. Finally, Ronan checked his watch and deemed they’d been gone long enough and figured it was time to head back to the Barns. He pilfered the keys from Adam’s pocket — it was his turn to drive — and they made their way back to the car hand in hand.

At the edge of the trees, Ronan pulled Adam into a long, lazy kiss, relishing in the dazed look on Adam’s face when he pulled away.

“You might not be the Magician anymore, Adam, but to me, you’re still magic,” he said.

Adam smiled softly and pressed another kiss to the corner of Ronan’s mouth. “You know, Ronan, if I told people some of the sappy shit you say to me, your street cred would be ruined.”

“Ah, but Parrish, who would believe you?” Ronan said with a smirk, and jogged ahead back to the car.

* * *

 

The decorations were up when they got back, much to Adam’s delight. Streamers were hung from every beam, fairy lights to be lit when it got darker were all clumped together unevenly, and banners saying _Happy 21st Birthday Adam_ were hung at awkward angles in various places. It looked messy and childlike because Matthew and Opal had been in charge, but it had also clearly been done with a lot of love because Matthew and Opal had been in charge.

“I tried to rein them in,” Declan said apologetically.

“It’s perfect,” Adam grinned.

Opal and Matthew were currently in the kitchen, which they had deemed a ‘No Adam Zone’ for the time-being until they had finished making his cake. Ronan had stuck his head in for long enough to ascertain that Opal wasn’t adding anything she had found outside to the mixture, and then he headed upstairs to make up some beds for their incoming guests.

Matthew was still a teenager and thus happy to sleep on the sofa so had volunteered his room for Henry, and Ronan was going to make up the guest room for Blue and Gansey. Opal usually slept in the den downstairs, anyway, as she occasionally struggled on the stairs with her hooves and couldn’t be bothered to deal with them. She _had_ been known to sneak in to Declan’s room when he stayed sometimes, just like Ronan had occasionally done when he was a child. Declan didn’t seem to mind.

Ronan gave the bedrooms a perfunctory tidy, changed the sheets and put clean towels on the ends of the beds, then headed back downstairs. Opal and Matthew had now finished in the kitchen; a lopsided cake slathered in green icing sat on the counter, 21 written on top in chocolate buttons. There were a few gaps where someone had obviously helped themselves; it would be easy to assume it was Opal but Ronan knew that Matthew would undoubtedly be the culprit. He could hear them in the living room, watching Moana for the umpteenth time and singing along joyfully. Ronan covered the cake with a large, upside down Tupperware so that no one else would pinch any of the chocolate buttons, and went outside.

Declan was sitting in the shade on the deck talking on the phone when Ronan stepped out, a work call by the sounds of things, and Ronan went down the steps and headed around to the back yard.

Sitting on a deckchair in the sunshine, head bowed forward in sleep, was Adam. Ronan had to stop and remind himself to breathe, overwhelmed yet again at how much he loved Adam Parrish. He went over quietly, anxious not to wake his perpetually exhausted boyfriend.

Open in Adam’s limp hands, precariously close to falling, was a book Declan had given Adam for his birthday. Carefully, Ronan pulled the book out of Adam’s grasp and slightly bent the page in the corner so Adam wouldn’t lose his place. If Gansey had seen him do that he’d have got in trouble, no doubt — _“Jesus, Ronan, use a bookmark you absolute barbarian,”_ — but it would have to do for now. He put it on the ground next to Adam’s chair.

It was so quiet; the low timbre of Declan’s voice had disappeared, either finished on the phone or gone back inside, and all Ronan could hear was birdsong in the far distance and the tiny huffs of Adam’s breathing.

And then, buzzing. Ronan snapped his head around.

Heading straight for him was a bee. Except, no, not just a bee. It was RoboBee. It came shooting over and buzzed around Ronan’s head, then Adam’s, then went shooting off again. A moment later, Ronan heard the unmistakable sound of the Pig roaring up the driveway. He grinned, and took off after RoboBee.

He got around to the front of the house in time to see the Pig come into view, and he leaned against the pillar on the porch, arms crossed. He was going for nonchalant, but the second Gansey stepped out of the Camaro with his turquoise polo shirt and beige cargo shorts and hideous boat shoes, looking up at Ronan with a huge smile as he adjusted his glasses, Ronan couldn’t help himself. He ran down the porch steps and took a running leap at Gansey, who caught him just in time with an emphatic, “ _Oof!_ ”

“Dick!” Ronan shouted excitedly.

“Hello, Lynch. Did you miss me?”

“Fuck off,” Ronan said, as he disentangled himself, but he knew the effect was minimised by the smile still on his face. By now, Blue and Henry were out of the car and had joined them. Ronan gave Henry a bone-crushing squeeze, then picked up Blue and spun her in a circle. He put her down and pointed at Gansey’s shoes. “Sargent. You promised me you’d burn those.”

“I _did_ ,” she insisted. “These are _new_ ones.”

“What does everyone have against my boat shoes?” Gansey said mournfully, looking down at his feet.

Henry looped an arm around Gansey’s neck. “Ignore them, Gansey. They’re vintage. You look great. A fashion icon, one might say.”

“ _Thank_ you, Henry,” Gansey said, shooting a smug look over at Ronan and Blue, who rolled their eyes in unison. “Now then, Ronan. Where’s the birthday boy?”

“He’s snoozing out back,” Ronan said. “Come on.”

“Oh, we don’t need to wake him,” Blue said. “Not if he’s tired.”

Ordinarily, Ronan would agree, but he also knew that Adam wouldn’t want to miss out on any time with their friends. “It’s okay, Blue, he’s had a good long nap now, he’ll be fine.”

They followed him around the back of the house, and when they caught sight of Adam in his deckchair, Blue gasped reverently. “He looks so _peaceful_ ,” she half-whispered.

Ronan gently ran a hand through Adam’s hair. “Wakey, wakey, birthday boy,” he said, and Adam slowly blinked his eyes open.

“Ronan,” he said thickly.

“Hi,” Ronan grinned, then jerked his head behind him. “Look who’s here?”

He stepped back so Adam could see, and then while Adam was hugging Blue and Henry, Ronan said quietly to Gansey, “If you push the birthday badge Parrish is wearing, it’ll sing him Happy Birthday. I dreamt it for him.”

“How sweet of you,” Gansey said, then stepped forward. “Happy Birthday, Adam,” he beamed, hugging him tight enough to trigger the badge, and when the murder squash song rang out he let go alarmingly quickly and whirled around on Ronan. He started chasing Ronan around the yard as Adam’s earlier giggles made a resurgence.

“Noooo,” Blue said, hands over her ears.

“Oh, I _love_ this song,” Henry said cheerfully.

“Ronan _Lynch_ , I will never forgive you for this,” Gansey said. “I thought you’d finally forgotten about the murder squash song!”

“Never,” Ronan cackled. “I will _never_ forget about this song.”

The song finally ended, and Gansey cracked a smile and then demanded Adam take the badge off so he could hug him without his ears being assaulted. Opal, Matthew and Declan came outside at all the noise and offered up their own greetings, and Ronan went in to grab his dream speakers so they could play some music and get the party started.

He felt recklessly happy.

* * *

 

As parties went, it was relatively low key, but then again low key was Adam’s preference. He didn’t want a fuss; he just wanted to enjoy the day with everyone. Ronan was more than happy to oblige.

An added bonus to having Declan here was that he was the only person other than himself that Ronan trusted to use the grill properly, so Declan was put on barbecue duty. Gansey, who had always managed to find things to talk to Declan about, lingered nearby, a bottle of beer in hand. Adam, Blue and Opal were dancing around the yard, Adam and Blue swinging Opal by her arms between them as she whooped delightedly. Ronan recruited Henry and Matthew to help him place logs for the fire he was planning on building up when it got a bit darker.

“This seems an awful lot like manual labour,” Henry remarked, lifting logs one at a time and thus ensuring it would take him twice as long to finish.

“It’s character building, Cheng,” Ronan said. “It’s good for you.”

“I don’t think my character needs anymore building,” Henry said solemnly. “I think I have plenty of character as it is. And besides, all this exertion is bad for my hair.”

Ronan scoffed and looked up from his own log pile; Henry was looking mournfully over at where Blue and the others were laughing and dancing. Ronan sighed. “You can go and join them if you want. Me and Matthew can finish this.”

Henry smiled winningly and dropped the log he had in his hands. “Oh, well if you’re sure you don’t need me,” he said, and practically skipped away.

Matthew looked at Ronan for a minute. “Can _I_ go and join the dance party?”

“Not until we’re finished.”

“Alright,” Matthew said agreeably, and picked up Henry’s discarded log.

Later on, after they had eaten their fill of burgers and hot dogs and kebabs, Ronan’s playlist started to change from noisy, upbeat, techno stuff, to quieter folky stuff, befitting of a summer night.

Matthew and Declan cleared everyones plates away while Ronan started to light the fire, building it up slowly until it was roaring. Opal ‘helped’ by running round and round the fire-pit making very Chainsaw like squawks. Once it was ready, Ronan arranged the deckchairs around the fire and everyone came to sit down.

There weren’t enough seats for everyone, so Ronan sat on the ground. Adam watched him for a moment, then abandoned his own chair and came over and wedged himself in between Ronan’s legs, back against his chest. Ronan’s hands came around Adam’s waist immediately, reflexively. Muscle memory.

“You two are disgustingly adorable,” Blue said.

“We know,” Adam and Ronan said at the same time, and Gansey burst out laughing.

From the direction of the house and heading closer suddenly came the out of tune voices of Opal and Matthew starting to sing Happy Birthday, and Ronan and Adam both looked up to see them carrying the lopsided cake between them as they approached Adam carefully. Everyone else joined in the singing and Adam buried his face in his hands; Ronan just leaned in to Adam’s ear and whisper-sang the rest of the song.

By the time they’d reached the _For he’s a jolly good fellow_ ’s, Opal and Matthew were close enough to present Adam with his cake. They had adorned it with a few candles, and Adam carefully took the plate from them and looked down at their creation.

“It’s hideous,” he said with a wide smile. “I love it.” He looked up at their expectant faces. “Thank you.”

“I ate some of the chocolate buttons,” Matthew admitted, which was big of him, really. Ronan stifled a laugh in Adam’s shoulder.

“I can see that,” Adam said wryly. “That’s alright.”

“I didn’t put any leaves or grass or mud in it,” Opal said. “It’s all proper cake mixture.” She shrugged. “Bit boring, but Ronan said you’d like it better this way.”

“He was right.”

“Blow the candles out, Adam. You’re supposed to make a wish!” Matthew said.

Adam closed his eyes, and blew. The flames puffed out.

“What did you wish for?” Opal asked.

“He can’t tell you that, Opal,” Declan chided gently, “or it won’t come true.”

Matthew gasped dramatically.

“I’ll let you know when it happens,” Adam promised Opal, and she nodded solemnly.

Henry waltzed over and crouched down to get a closer look at the cake. He nodded in approval.

“That’s a good looking cake, Adam,” he said. “You know, if you felt like sharing with the class.”

Adam laughed jovially. “Don’t worry, Henry. You’ll get a slice.”

“Thank goodness,” Henry said. “I was starting to worry.”

* * *

 

Eventually, Ronan’s family disappeared inside; Matthew was more than likely watching something terrible on the TV, and Declan had been dragged in by Opal to read her a story. She liked when Declan read to her — he always did the best voices, apparently.

Adam was still settled in Ronan’s arms even though there were more than enough chairs now, but Ronan was more than happy to stay right where he was. The warmth from both Adam and the blazing fire was making him feel drowsy in the best possible way. The lilting of Blue’s and Adam’s accents as they chatted away about their respective summer plans was little more than faint background noise as Ronan’s head slowly slumped forward onto Adam’s shoulder.

The next thing Ronan was aware of was Adam pulling lightly at his hand.

“Ronan,” he whispered. “C’mon, it’s late.”

The fire had dwindled to embers; it would go out on its own. Ronan looked around to see that everyone else was already gone. Adam tugged on his hand again.

“Let’s go to bed, Ronan.”

Ronan yawned and let Adam start to pull him back towards the house. “Where is everyone?”

“They went in a little while ago.”

Ronan frowned. “Why didn’t you wake me up?”

“Because you were sleeping, and I was comfortable, and the fire was nice, and I love you.”

“Oh,” Ronan said, and huffed a tired little laugh. “I love you, too. Did you have a nice birthday?”

They were inside now, tip-toeing up the stairs so as not to wake any of the sleeping inhabitants.

“The _best_ birthday, Ronan. It was exactly what I wanted,” Adam whispered. They reached Ronan’s room and slipped inside, Adam closing it with a quiet click behind them.

“Good,” Ronan said. “I’m glad.” He face planted on his bed, and Adam groaned in exasperated amusement.

“Ronan, don’t fall asleep like that, not in all your clothes.”

Ronan smirked. “You tryna undress me, Parrish?” His slurred words only served to emphasise his tiredness.

“Yes. Because you smell like a bonfire.”

Eventually, Ronan made the herculean effort to change into his sleep clothes, and after Adam had done the same, they clambered into bed. Ronan had left his windows wide open all day so there was a slight chill in his room from the night air, and Adam and Ronan clung to each other for warmth.

The smile that had been on Ronan’s face almost all day was still there. He was heavy with happiness and love and affection as he pulled Adam’s hand close to his chest.

He felt so still inside.

“Happy Birthday, Adam,” he whispered, and fell into a dreamless sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> writing scenes with more than three characters in is unreasonably difficult holy shit
> 
> *title taken from lyrics from No One's Gonna Love You by Band of Horses


End file.
